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Some officials rely on secrecy and clubs
By Wang Yong |
October 11, 2011, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
Two unrelated news events over the weekend reveal one of China's thorniest political problems: bureaucratic indifference to public interest.
On Sunday, Li Yan, a graduate student at Qinghua University, withdrew her lawsuit against three central government ministries - the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Land and Resources.
About a month ago, she had filed suit in Beijing against the three ministries for refusing to be transparent and publicize the job descriptions for their vice ministers' posts.
Li said she dropped her lawsuit because the three ministries - under public pressure and with court mediation - had finally satisfied her request. She made her initial request in May as she was researching an academic paper about China's deputy officials.
This case serves only to show how silly many of our "public servants" are. The Ministry of Education looks especially foolish and ignorant in this case - how can you educate China to become an enlightened democracy if you yourself are so often blind to the law?
In another betrayal of public trust, a group of chengguan ("big hats" in charge of maintaining urban "image") in Kunming, Yunnan Province, beat a 17-year-old boy to death last Friday - and later admitted that they had beaten the wrong target.
In a five-minute press conference afterward, a local government spokesman refused to answer questions about why the thuggish chengguan had clubbed the wrong person and why they wanted a man to die on the street under the blows of iron rods.
The "spokesman" even refused to give his own name. Thanks to a bold reporter from CCTV, now everyone can see the video of that pseudo press conference.
So silly and thuggish are many of our government officials that even good laws cannot prevent them from being silly or thuggish. The good news, though, is that people can now speak up - and hope to be heard.
On Sunday, Li Yan, a graduate student at Qinghua University, withdrew her lawsuit against three central government ministries - the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Land and Resources.
About a month ago, she had filed suit in Beijing against the three ministries for refusing to be transparent and publicize the job descriptions for their vice ministers' posts.
Li said she dropped her lawsuit because the three ministries - under public pressure and with court mediation - had finally satisfied her request. She made her initial request in May as she was researching an academic paper about China's deputy officials.
This case serves only to show how silly many of our "public servants" are. The Ministry of Education looks especially foolish and ignorant in this case - how can you educate China to become an enlightened democracy if you yourself are so often blind to the law?
In another betrayal of public trust, a group of chengguan ("big hats" in charge of maintaining urban "image") in Kunming, Yunnan Province, beat a 17-year-old boy to death last Friday - and later admitted that they had beaten the wrong target.
In a five-minute press conference afterward, a local government spokesman refused to answer questions about why the thuggish chengguan had clubbed the wrong person and why they wanted a man to die on the street under the blows of iron rods.
The "spokesman" even refused to give his own name. Thanks to a bold reporter from CCTV, now everyone can see the video of that pseudo press conference.
So silly and thuggish are many of our government officials that even good laws cannot prevent them from being silly or thuggish. The good news, though, is that people can now speak up - and hope to be heard.
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